Book Review: Devils Kill Devils by Johnny Compton

I received a review copy from the publisher. This does not affect the contents of my review and all opinions are my own.

Devils Kill Devils by Johnny Compton

Mogsy’s Review: 3 of 5 stars

Genre: Horror

Series: Stand Alone

Publisher: Tor Nightfire (September 24, 2024)

Length: 288 pages

Johnny Compton’s Devils Kill Devils is his second novel following his debut, The Spite House, which I enjoyed for its haunting atmosphere and premise. Devils Kill Devils, on the other hand, feels a bit more scattered. While it packs in a ton of supernatural elements, they don’t always come together cohesively. Overall, the author’s ambitious endeavor was somewhat marred by the fact that all these different ideas frequently clashed, making it an uneven read.

The story follows Sarita, a woman who has been protected from harm all her life by what she and her family believes is a guardian angel. They named him Angelo because of the way this imposing, enigmatic figure always seems to appear at critical moments to save Sarita from certain death. The first time, she had been just a child, swept away by a riptide during a family vacation at the beach. Then, Angelo seemingly came out of nowhere to carry the drowning girl out of the waves. These rescues continued through her teens, college years, and into adulthood—always unexpectedly, but with an eerie consistency that gave Sarita a strange comfort knowing that no matter what happened, Angelo would be watching over her, keeping her safe.

However, this faith is shattered on her wedding night, when Angelo reappears and brutally kills her new husband in cold blood. Stunned and traumatized, Sarita wonders just how she could have misjudged her so-called guardian angel so badly. As she turns to friends and family to delve deeper into her past encounters with Angelo, they uncover some disturbing new information that suggests his origins are anything but angelic. With these revelations, Sarita suddenly finds herself pulled into the dark world of ancient prophecies, secret cults, and supernatural forces.

The novel’s intro is strong, positing the idea that guardian angels may in fact be working towards a more sinister agenda when they are ostensibly protecting their charges. These early chapters were filled with suspense and a sense of dread, and I loved them! Given the fact Angelo seems to have no qualms about using violence to safeguard Sarita’s life, this should have been a huge red flag from the start, but when the moment comes when he suddenly turns on her in the most shocking way, the horror still hits like a punch in the gut.

Unfortunately, the plot began to lose its intrigue as things progressed. This happened as the focus on Angelo started giving way to a more sprawling narrative with multiple sub threads involving a crap ton of additional supernatural entities that distract from the central story. What initially was a tightly wound mystery unraveled as we branched into a broader but less coherent exploration into secret cults, other realms, and even vampires! In short, I feel the author was trying to do way too much in too few pages.

The characters themselves were hit-or-miss. I liked Sarita, who starts out as sympathetic and relatable, especially in her grief and confusion following Angelo’s brutal attack. But along with the main storyline, character development grew rougher and more convoluted as the chaos of the plot took over. No spoilers here, but by the time another character named Cela enters the picture, I felt I barely had any more attention to give.

In the end, Devils Kill Devils featured good ideas, even taking on some classic horror themes with new twists, though the story ultimately lacks the focus to maintain them. Still, although this is a flawed novel, Johnny Compton’s writing is strong, and his creativity makes me curious to see where he’ll go next as he continues to hone his storytelling.